Sweeten the taste
by Her Sweetness
Summary: Yugi's puzzle has gone missing. But Marik and Mailk didn't take it...instead they're working to get it back. But can they out theif a theif? Find out as they race around the world to help Yugi! R&R! FINISHED!
1. Chapter 1

Sweeten the taste  
  
Chapter 1:  
  
It was early on an October morning at the game shop. Yugi was running around upstairs frantically looking for something.  
  
"Where is it? Where is it?!" He looked under the couch and behind the T.V set.  
  
He was running so fast that he'd bumped into Yami and fell onto the floor in tears, "...Sorry Yami."  
  
"It's okay Yugi. But what's wrong?"  
  
"Nothing...I mean, nothing important."  
  
"Sure it is. Now tell me what's wrong."  
  
"My... my millennium puzzle is gone, Yami!"  
  
Yami almost fell back but caught himself, "Wha...What?"  
  
"It's true. I had it yesterday but when I woke up this morning it wasn't around my neck..."  
  
"Well... you're sure you had it last night?"  
  
"Yes!"  
  
"Hmm. Did you get up last night? Like, to get a glass of water or something?"  
  
"No. I slept throughout the whole night."  
  
"Do you think... do you think Marik and Malik could've taken it?"  
  
"Maybe..."  
  
"We should go over to their house and see."  
  
"What if they won't let us in?"  
  
"They will. If they have it, they'll let us see it. Their cocky like that."  
  
"Right, we should get over there now."  
  
After Yugi put his clothes on they were out the door and down at Marik and Malik's house to get their puzzle back.  
  
DING-DONG! They rang the doorbell and waited for someone to answer.  
  
"Yeah?" Malik answered the door sleepily.  
  
Yami and Yugi looked at him with suspicious eyes, "Do you have our puzzle?"  
  
"No... I don't have it. I'll ask Marik." He motioned for them to enter and they went into the bedroom.  
  
Marik was snoring in bed with his arms stretched out and all you could see above the covers was his pointy hair. "..."  
  
"Marik?"  
  
"..." he moved a little.  
  
"Marik, get up. Yami and Yugi are here."  
  
He sat up and yawned, "What are you two doing here?"  
  
Yugi gulped, "I want my puzzle back Marik."  
  
"Well, good. I hope you get it back."  
  
"I mean from you!"  
  
"Me? I don't have it."  
  
"Then you won't mind if we search?"  
  
"Knock yourself out." he sank underneath his blanket.  
  
"Fine." Yami lifted his puzzle and scanned for any other millennium items. The only things he found were Marik and Malik's rods.  
  
"It isn't here Yugi." Yami said.  
  
"What?! But if they don't have it... then who does?"  
  
Yami shrugged.  
  
"Wait a minute." Marik sat up again. "You lost your puzzle?"  
  
Yugi nodded with a guilty face.  
  
"This is terrible!" Marik hopped out of bed.  
  
"What's so terrible, Marik? We don't even like them." Malik said.  
  
"Yes, but don't you see?" He grabbed his hakari by the shoulders. "If they don't have it anymore... how are we gonna steal it?"  
  
"Oh... I didn't think about that."  
  
"Exactly." He started to pace around the room, "What do we do?!"  
  
Just then the phone rang. Marik stopped pacing and answered it. "Hello? Uh, hey Kaiba... he's here...okay." He held the phone to Yugi, "It for you."  
  
"Kaiba?" Yugi held the phone close. "Why are you calling here?...Oh...Really?...Oh god! Okay, we'll be right there."  
  
He hung up the phone and looked at Yami. "Kaiba says an email was sent to him by mistake. It was meant for us and it's about my puzzle. We gotta get over there!"  
  
"We'll drive you. Malik, we've gotta make sure that puzzle is okay."  
  
"Uh, okay."  
  
They went and jumped into the car then sped down to Kaiba's mansion. When they got there, they were let inside by one of Kaiba's maids. She led them to Kaiba's private room with his super computer and everything.  
  
Kaiba was sitting in one of the chairs when they came in.  
  
"Kaiba, were here." Yugi said.  
  
"Good. Here's that e-mail I told you about." He typed in something and a man wearing a black came onto the big screen.  
  
"Hello, Yugi Motou. I know by now your wondering where your millennium puzzle is...so let me get to the point. I have it." He held it up, "And the only way you'll get it back is to give me 20 billion dollars. But if you or Yami decides to get bold and come after me then I'll blow it up! Until then, I will not be contacting you."  
  
Then he went off the screen. Kaiba turned around, "Yugi, where are you going to get that money?"  
  
"I'm not going to pay him. I'm going after him."  
  
Yami turned to him, "Yugi! He said he'd blow it up if we went after him!"  
  
"What am I supposed to do then?"  
  
Malik thought for a minute, "Hey, I got an idea!"  
  
Everyone looked at him.  
  
"He said he'd blow it if you guys went after it... what if me and Marik went after him. He's never seen us before so he wouldn't even know we were tailing him."  
  
"No way," Yugi said. "You'll steal it from him and keep it for yourself."  
  
"Yugi," Yami sighed. "What other choice do we have?"  
  
"...even if we did let them go, we have no idea where to send them. He's on the move."  
  
"Actually," Kaiba said. "I've been working on something and this sounds like the perfect opportunity to test it."  
  
"What?" They all asked.  
  
"That." He pointed to a small machine in the corner. "It's my tracker that I invented."  
  
They walked over to it, "How does it work?" Marik asked.  
  
"See, it's connected to my main computer and f you place a similar object in that compartment of the thing that you're tracking then..." He typed something onto his computer and a world map showed up. "It's location should appear anywhere in the world on this map. Cool, huh?"  
  
Everyone was in awe. Yugi was a little skeptical though, "What makes you think it works?"  
  
"I said this would be a great time to test it." Kaiba pointed to his device, "Put your puzzle in there."  
  
Yami took his millennium puzzle from around his neck and set it into the cartridge. "Okay, now what?"  
  
"Now stand back."  
  
Everyone moved away and Kaiba was soon typing other things. In a minute the puzzle started to glow and lots of pictures showed up on the screen.  
  
Then the screen made a loud beeping sound then the map came up again, and a red dot was on the side of Hawaii. "That's it! There's your puzzle, Yugi. That guy is in Hawaii! It works!"  
  
"Wow...it does work." Yugi said to himself.  
  
"Now we now where to go, Marik!" Malik looked at Yugi. "With his permission of course."  
  
"...Yeah, okay. But you two better bring that thing back to me!"  
  
"Yeah sure." Marik stretched. "So, Kaiba. He's in Hawaii, right?"  
  
"Yes," He took something out of his drawer. "Here, take this walkie- talkie. So, when he switches locations I can tell you."  
  
Malik took it, "Wait a minute. How do we get to Hawaii from Japan?"  
  
Marik smiled, "We have a boat remember?"  
  
"Oh yeah. Okay then, if that's all we'll be going."  
  
As they left Kaiba's house Yugi yelled one more time, "BRING BACK MY PUZZLE!" 


	2. Chapter 2

Sweeten the taste  
  
Chapter 2:  
  
In about fifteen minutes they pulled up to the docks.  
  
"Okay Malik. Do you see our boat anywhere?"  
  
"Umm. Oh, there it is!" He pointed to a white and yellow boat at the edge of the pier.  
  
They went over to it and climbed aboard the deck. Marik found the controls in the front room and dusted it off.  
  
"Uh, Malik?"  
  
"Yeah?" He was untying the boat from the dock.  
  
"How long has it been since we went on this boat?"  
  
"I don't know. A year?"  
  
"Hmm... Whoa!" The boat was drifting from the pier. "Could you warn me before doing that?"  
  
Malik walked into the room, "Sorry."  
  
Marik looked at a map that was hanging above the controls. "Now, where was Hawaii again? To the east? Okay good."  
  
He started to steer the boat out to sea. "Well, this little trip shouldn't take to long... we should be home by dinner time."  
  
"Are you sure? I mean we are going to Hawaii, and that's a long way away from home."  
  
"You're right, it's not this often we go someplace this exotic... we should stay and eat dinner there."  
  
"Yeah, I bet they have sandwiches with pineapples and tiki's."  
  
"You don't put those in sandwiches!"  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Because pineapples don't belong in sandwiches."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"I bet they have whale blubber in sandwiches."  
  
"That's Alaska! Not Hawaii."  
  
Marik ignored him and went to the back room to see what supplies they had. He looked around and saw a harpoon, a T.V, a refrigerator, and two diver suits.  
  
"Well, at least we have a fridge. Oh...Malik will be mad when he figures out there's no game cube. Oh well."  
  
He brought the T.V into the control room so they could watch it. "Here." He dumped it in Malik's lap.  
  
"Oh, T.V!" He turned it on and got static, and then he turned the channel to Lifetime and got a crystal clear picture. "I think Lifetime is the only station that works out here."  
  
"Then you'd better get used to watching the Golden Girls because we can't get another T.V."  
  
Malik sat back and started watching a marathon of the Golden Girls.  
  
In about three hours Marik got extremely board just waiting to get to Hawaii. Malik on the other hand was totally entertained. "Aw! That's so beautiful."  
  
"Malik, when did we start this little trip?"  
  
"Since Blanche wanted to get a boob job."  
  
"Well, I'm tired of waiting to get there..."  
  
"What setting is the boat on?"  
  
"Setting?" Marik looked at the controls. "Um, two."  
  
"Well, no wonder we're going so slow. Put it on ten."  
  
"Ten? Okay." Marik pushed the lever up to ten, and the boat zoomed forward pining Marik and Malik to the wall at the back of the boat.  
  
"Malik you idiot..." Marik barely choked out. "Ten is too high."  
  
"Oops. I forgot."  
  
Marik tried to walk to the front of the boat but the speed of the boat pushed him back to the wall.  
  
In a couple of minutes the boat stopped completely making Marik and Malik fall to the floor.  
  
Marik coughed and coughed, "Oh man, what happened...?"  
  
"I think the boat ran out of fuel." Malik said, standing up.  
  
Marik walked over to the controls, and looked at the fuel gauge. "Aw man... what do we do now?"  
  
"Uh... I don't know but we've got a problem." Malik was looking out of the window.  
  
"Another problem?" Marik stood beside his hikari and looked out the window, "Oh Ra."  
  
A gigantic tidal wave was coming towards the boat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Marik and Malik ran to the back of the boat and closed all the doors and windows. In less than half a minute the wave swept over the mini-yacht and carried it away.  
  
"Ah! What are we gonna do Marik?!" Malik was bouncing around the walls of the boat.  
  
"I don't know, but my back is starting to hurt!" He was doing the same.  
  
Their heads hit down on a lever and they blacked out...  
  
It was close to 2:00 in the afternoon when two Egyptian boys washed up on the shores of a Hawaiian Island.  
  
Neither moved for a moment or two. But then something in Malik's pocket made a little noise. Malik moved a little.  
  
He reached into his pocket and pulled out the walkie-talkie Kaiba had given him. 'Oh yeah...' He pressed the button. "Hello?"  
  
"Malik? Are you okay?" Kaiba said from Japan.  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine."  
  
"Where is Marik?"  
  
Malik looked across the beach and saw Marik getting all the seaweed out of his hair. "He's close by."  
  
"Well, good. I'm glad you two made it too Hawaii. Your really close the puzzle, you'd better get a move on."  
  
"Okay. Talk to you later."  
  
Malik walked over to his yami, "Kaiba says were close to the puzzle, but we need to go before he gets away."  
  
"Yeah, okay."  
  
They walked for a little bit until they got to a small town. It was a marketplace actually...you know, one of those outside plaza's with lot's of shops selling things.  
  
Anyway, there were lots of people... Malik and Marik weren't sure they could find the guy that stole Yugi's puzzle.  
  
"Well, where do we start looking?" Marik asked.  
  
"Uh... I think we should just jump in and look around."  
  
"Yeah, maybe we'll get lucky."  
  
"Maybe." 


	3. Chapter 3

Sweeten the taste  
  
Chapter 3:  
  
They started to wonder into the moving crowd. Although Hawaii was very beautiful it was also very noisy at times, this was one of them.  
  
"Marik... look at that." Something had caught Malik's eye.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
It was a necklace with a seashell on the end.  
  
"Malik, we don't have time for this. We got to find that guy."  
  
"We don't even know what he looks like... how are we supposed to find him?"  
  
"Well, from that e-mail thing. He was wearing a black coat... maybe he still is."  
  
"Marik that could've been taped days ago. And even if it wasn't who would be stupid enough to wear the same thing that he wore on a ransom video."  
  
Marik sighed and they keep walking. Once they had gotten out of the busy part of Hawaii they came to this huge hotel. With glossy paint and palm trees, it was about fifty stories.  
  
"Hey Malik, see?"  
  
"Yeah, what an eye sore."  
  
"No. The guy that took the millennium puzzle must be in there, rich hotel's are always where bad guys go."  
  
"Then how come we don't go there?"  
  
"Bad example. C'mon we gotta go in there and search for him."  
  
"We don't have any money remember? They're not going to let us in."  
  
"Hmm." Marik thought for a while, "I know!"  
  
The next thing they knew they were dressed up in bellhops clothing that they had stolen. "Marik this is ridiculous."  
  
"Just keep walking." Marik whispered. "We have to find his room number."  
  
They snuck up behind the front desk and looked at the names on the keys. "Malik, what do you think his name is?"  
  
"There's thousands of keys here and expect me to pick one?!"  
  
"We got to hurry before the front desk person comes back... I think he would pick a common name, to confuse people."  
  
"But what if he knows that we might think that and picks a weird name... like Mr. Guacamole."  
  
"Mr. Guacamole or Mr. Smith?"  
  
"Pick one the lady is coming back!"  
  
Instead, Marik took both keys and they ran up stairs.  
  
"Okay the closest room is Mr. Smith it's #123."  
  
"Alright, let's go." They went down the hall and found the room number. "Okay Marik, I'll see if he's in here... then we rush him and get the puzzle."  
  
Malik put the key in then turned it, he poked his head in and...  
  
"Ahh!"  
  
Malik shut the door then turned around. "That wasn't him."  
  
"Who was it?"  
  
"You don't want to go in there..."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"I think it's one of those honeymoon rooms."  
  
"What makes you think that?"  
  
"Because there was a wedding dress on the floor and two people on the bed doing who knows what...Heterosexuals are weird."  
  
"Tell me about it." They decided to try the other door on the 5th floor.  
  
When they finally got up there, Marik decided to open the door since Malik was still in shock. "Okay, ready?"  
  
"Yup." Malik was right behind him.  
  
Marik unlocked it then busted the door wide open. They didn't see anyone at first but they wandered in anyway. "Marik, do you see him?"  
  
"No, we should try and find the puzzle if we can. So we can get out of here."  
  
They looked around and after about 10 minutes the whole place was messy from them throwing things while searching.  
  
"I can't find anything, he must have taken the puzzle with him where ever he went." Malik said sitting on the bed.  
  
Just then the door opened and that same man they saw on the video was standing in the doorway.  
  
"..." He didn't say anything.  
  
Marik and Malik didn't say anything but they saw the millennium puzzle hanging around his neck.  
  
The man ran past them and jumped out of the window. Marik went to the windowsill to see if he had died from impact. "I hope that puzzle is okay."  
  
The man landed on his feet, ran onto the airstrip on the beach and into a helicopter, it soon took off and flew away.  
  
"Well, that's wonderful!" Malik shouted in disbelief.  
  
"Ugh, c'mon!" Marik ran out the door and his hikari followed.  
  
They went out of the building and ran down to that same airstrip. They couldn't see the helicopter.  
  
"Aw, man! He got away!" Malik sat down in the sand.  
  
Marik looked around for a bit then saw an airplane on the other side of the beach loading passengers and cargo.  
  
"Malik, look! We can catch up with him in that!" He pointed to the large Delta Plane.  
  
"Marik we don't have enough money for a flight and even if we did... if that guy is going one way, that plane might be going the other."  
  
"Were not going to be passengers... were going to be captains!"  
  
Malik stood up, "You mean were going to hijack a plane!?"  
  
"That's the plan." Marik started to run for the plane.  
  
'He's insane.' Malik followed.  
  
As soon as they got to the plane they pretended they were passengers and got on board. They went up to the cockpit and sat down in the pilot seats.  
  
"Marik, I'm not so sure about this... we've never flown a plane before."  
  
"Stop being so afraid all the time. You can be co-pilot."  
  
"I asked one of the people where this flight goes and he said Cuba."  
  
"We'll have to ask Kaiba where were going."  
  
"But..." Marik grabbed the walkie-talkie from Malik and radioed Kaiba.  
  
"Hello? Kaiba?"  
  
"Hey. You lost the puzzle didn't you?" Kaiba said.  
  
"Lay off. Were going to get it back. Where is he?"  
  
"He's..." Kaiba looked at his computer, "In Mexico."  
  
"Okay thanks."  
  
"Well?" Malik looked at him.  
  
"Were going to Mexico!"  
  
Malik sighed and put on his helmet. "You don't know how to fly a plane... I'm going to die."  
  
"You've had a good life, right?"  
  
"I'm only 17!"  
  
"I said good, not long." 


	4. Chapter 4

Sweeten the taste  
  
Chapter 4:  
  
In a couple of minutes the real pilots had come in and Marik tied them up in the corner.  
  
"Marik, when are we gonna take off?"  
  
"As soon as those guys in the back of the plane give the signal."  
  
They waited for a second then saw the people waving different colored flags around and Marik mistook that for 'Go'. Instead of 'Get out that plane you imposters'.  
  
"Alright this is it Malik." Marik started the engine. And flipped a bunch of switches.  
  
"Marik! Do you even know what your doing?!"  
  
"Nope, but I saw a movie like this before. Now, let's see..."  
  
Malik closed his eyes tightly and kept repeating, "There's no place like home...there's no place like home..."  
  
They plane started to go fast along the airstrip, Marik grabbed the microphone, "Passengers, this is your Captain speaking... there's been a change of plans, were going to Mexico. Now, buckle up... because I've never flown a plane before."  
  
That sent everyone into a frenzied panic. People put their seat belts in and prayed for a miracle.  
  
As the plane took off from the ground Marik was wondering which way to go, "Malik, Mexico is to the East right?"  
  
"Yeah, but if we go straight East we'll end up in America. So we've got to go a little south as well."  
  
"Okay, South East it is!"  
  
He started to pull on the controls and the plane turned eastward. "Hey, this is kinda easy. Wanna try Malik?"  
  
Malik fiercely shook his head.  
  
"Oh well. You know, I think we'll get him this time."  
  
"Shouldn't you be concentrating?"  
  
"I am, I am."  
  
It was about an hour later when Malik was getting desperately bored, and somewhat surprised that the plane hadn't crashed into the ocean. Marik was feeling so comfortable flying the plane that he was now using his toes to steer.  
  
"Marik that's not safe."  
  
"What do you know? Go check on the passengers." Marik ordered.  
  
Malik went out of the room to see the first class passengers, "Hello."  
  
They were still cowering in fear and said nothing. Malik smiled and went back into the cockpit. "They're fine."  
  
"Good. Hey do you know what Mexico looks like?"  
  
"No... Well, I saw it on a map once. It kinda looks like a horn. To me anyways... Anywhere you see a gigantic horn, stop there."  
  
"Okay."  
  
Malik sat back down in his chair, "Did Kaiba say what city?"  
  
"No, I forgot to ask."  
  
Malik pulled out the walkie-talkie and pressed the button, "Kaiba? You there?"  
  
"Yup."  
  
"What city is he in?"  
  
"Well," He paused, "He's in Mexico City."  
  
"That's near the Gulf of Mexico isn't it?"  
  
"Sure is."  
  
"Okay, later."  
  
Malik turned to his yami, "He's in Mexico City."  
  
"Great."  
  
It was another two or three hours were spent high in the sky before Marik got confused. "Malik?"  
  
Malik was fast asleep in his chair and Marik didn't bother to wake him up. 'I don't know if this is Mexico or not... Well, I hope it is because this is where I'm landing.'  
  
He started to push the plane in towards the ground, and the downward motion of the plane woke Malik up. "...What are we doing?"  
  
"Landing. Hold on, because I've never even seen this done."  
  
"What?!"  
  
Marik pushed on the handle really hard and the steering controls broke off into Marik's hands. "Oops."  
  
"Ah!" Malik grabbed the announcement microphone, "Attention all passengers! Our pilot has broken the controls and we will now spiral downward to our death!"  
  
"Ahh!" Screams could be heard from every passenger as they cried and ran around in circles.  
  
Marik glared at Malik, "Aw, what'd you do that for?!"  
  
"Were going to die!"  
  
Marik sighed and pushed a red button, just then a huge Para shoot busted from the back of the plane and made it go a little slower as they went down to the ground.  
  
"Well, that should take care of the people. C'mon Malik."  
  
"C'mon? Where are we going? Where can we go?"  
  
Marik grabbed two Para shoots and threw one at his hikari. "Were jumping."  
  
"...You're kidding."  
  
"Do you want to jump or crash?"  
  
Malik put it on and Marik opened the emergency escape door. "Let's go, Malik!"  
  
They jumped out of plane and freefell. "Marik!" Malik screamed, "When do we pull the cord?!"  
  
"What?!"  
  
"When do we pull the cord?!"  
  
"What?!"  
  
"WHEN DO WE PULL THE CORD?!"  
  
"NOW!" They pulled the string dangling by their sides. And big white/red sheets came up above them.  
  
"See, Malik? Fun, huh?"  
  
"Fun? This was probably the most scary thing that ever happened to me!"  
  
"Aw, don't a baby. You liked it."  
  
Malik was quiet until they were about 100 ft from the ground. "Do we just land on our feet?"  
  
"No, tuck and roll."  
  
"Oh..." Malik didn't really know what that meant, so he decided to copy off of whatever Marik did.  
  
They were 5 ft from the ground, Marik tucked his legs under him and Malik did the same. When they hit the ground Marik rolled until his Para shoot was behind him, Malik did the same.  
  
They stood up just in time to see the plane make a huge crash into the water. "Marik, I don't think we did the right thing."  
  
"Oh, they'll live." Marik looked around. "This is Mexico? Hmm. Well, let's call Kaiba." 


	5. Chapter 5

Sweeten the taste  
  
Chapter 5:  
  
"Kaiba?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Sheesh! Why are you so grumpy?"  
  
"I'm sorry Marik. But I tend to get a little testy when two people I know send a whole plane of innocents to their doom!"  
  
"You saw that?"  
  
"Yes, I saw that! What's wrong with you two?!"  
  
Marik looked to Malik and shrugged, "Uh, but we needed to get to Mexico City."  
  
"You're not in Mexico City."  
  
"Were not?! Where are we?"  
  
"Your in close to Tampico. On the coast of Mexico."  
  
"Well, how do we get to Mexico City?"  
  
"You could hijack another plane," He was being sarcastic, "Or you could drive."  
  
"Driving!" Malik said.  
  
"Good-luck." Kaiba hung up.  
  
Malik looked around and sighed, "Were are we going to find a car? And it's almost night time!"  
  
He pointed to the sun setting on the horizon. "Well," Marik said. "I guess we'll have to walk by night."  
  
"What?!"  
  
"They say that moonlight is really beautiful." Marik started to walk.  
  
Malik followed, "What about coyotes? Or birds?"  
  
"Birds?"  
  
"Yeah, big birds! They could swoop down and get us!"  
  
"And you think that of we were sleeping, they couldn't still get us? At least when were awake, we can run away."  
  
"..."  
  
They walked for about two hours and then Malik started to get really sleepy. "Marik... I'm tired."  
  
"So am I."  
  
"Why don't we stop?"  
  
"There's a town forty yards away." Marik pointed ahead.  
  
Malik looked up from the ground. "Oh."  
  
They soon entered the little city and walked to what looked like a town square they sat down on the ground. Marik stretched his arms, yawned, and laid down on the ground.  
  
"Marik?"  
  
"..."  
  
Malik put his head on Marik's stomach and soon fell asleep...  
  
It was about 6:30 in the morning when Malik woke up from a throbbing headache. "Oh..." He held his head while he sat up. "Marik?"  
  
He looked down and instead of seeing his yami he saw a monkey. "Wha...?" The monkey turned to face him. "..."  
  
"Oh no!" Malik stood up.  
  
"Eek?"  
  
"Marik has turned into a monkey! I can't believe this! This is awful!" he started to pace around the monkey.  
  
"..."  
  
He stopped and looked at the monkey, "That's okay Marik..."  
  
He picked the monkey up and hugged him, "I still love you."  
  
Just then Marik drove by in a gray jeep, "I'm gone for an hour and you fall in love with a monkey?"  
  
"Huh?" Malik looked at him then the monkey, "Oh, hey Marik!" He jumped in the passenger seat.  
  
"Let's go." Marik stared to drive off.  
  
"Uh, wait a minute." Malik hopped out of the jeep, picked up the monkey, and then got back in. "Now we can go."  
  
"Were not taking a monkey with us." Marik said.  
  
"Sure we are, I can't just leave him here. Were taking him with us."  
  
"Ugh! You're impossible."  
  
They were driving for about a half an hour when Malik asked Marik a question, "Where did you get this jeep?"  
  
"In that town."  
  
"I mean did you pay for it?"  
  
Marik smiled, "You know we don't have any money."  
  
"Marik! You stole it!"  
  
"What? Kaiba said we should drive to Mexico City."  
  
"Yeah, but we shouldn't steal anymore on this trip. We've already taken a plane, and now a jeep."  
  
"And a monkey."  
  
"Oh yeah..." Malik looked at the monkey on his shoulder, "But I don't think he belonged to anyone."  
  
"..." Marik said nothing.  
  
"You know, I think if he's coming with us... he should have a name."  
  
"What?!"  
  
"I think his name should be...Monkey."  
  
"You're going to name a monkey... Monkey?" Marik looked at him, then kept driving.  
  
"Yup. What do you think about that name, Monkey?" Malik looked at Monkey.  
  
"Eek!"  
  
After about four hours of driving they came to Mexico City. They drove past a bunch of people and animals then came to a Supermarket parking lot. Marik stopped there just to radio Kaiba but Malik wanted something else.  
  
"We'll be back Marik."  
  
"Who's we?"  
  
"Me and Monkey."  
  
"And just where are you going?"  
  
"To get monkey chow."  
  
"Monkey chow?!"  
  
Malik and Monkey went inside and Marik called Kaiba, "Hello?"  
  
"Hello."  
  
"Well, were here. Where's the puzzle?"  
  
Kaiba searched, "It's under a small bridge."  
  
"Bridge? So the guy's a hobo now."  
  
"I guess. Hey and word to the wise. Try and stay low from now on, meaning no more hijacking planes. It was on the news this morning, they've got your pictures too."  
  
"What? Oh great."  
  
"Alright I gotta go."  
  
Malik and Monkey came out of the store with a white bag. "Did you find out where the puzzle is, Marik."  
  
"Yup," Marik started the car, "Did you get your Monkey chow?"  
  
"Sure did." He climbed in and Monkey curled up in his lap.  
  
Marik drove down towards every little lake or brook, but found no bridge. They finally came to this brook where this boat celebration was being held.  
  
"What is this?" Malik said, feeding Monkey.  
  
"I don't know, but there is a bridge." Marik pointed to a red bridge.  
  
They walked down to it, "Malik you stay here and I'll go see."  
  
Marik tip-toed down to the waters edge then peeked around the corner of the bridge. He saw the millennium puzzle just sitting on the grass. 'This will be easier than I thought.' He went up to it but just then that same man they'd been chasing jumped on him.  
  
"Ah!" Marik took his millennium rod out and whacked the guy on the side of his head with it.  
  
"Ugh!" The man held his head and ran with the puzzle in hand. He ran right past Malik and over the bridge.  
  
"Malik!" Marik ran after him, "Let's go!"  
  
Malik dropped Monkey and ran after his yami and the thief. "I'm coming, Marik!"  
  
They ran till they saw where the stream empties into the sea. It was a big cliff and the man was at the edge of it.  
  
"Okay," Marik said. "You can't go anywhere. Just give the puzzle to us and maybe we'll let you go." 


	6. Chapter 6

Sweeten the taste  
  
Chapter 6:  
  
The man looked behind him down at the 100 ft drop into jagged rocks. "I'll not give up this puzzle until I get my money!"  
  
"What would you do with 20 billion dollars anyway?" Malik asked.  
  
"I'd rule the world!"  
  
"You might need a bit more than that to rule the world..."  
  
Marik glared at him, "Just hand it over!"  
  
"Or what?"  
  
"Die."  
  
Marik and Malik pulled out their millennium rods and pointed them at him.  
  
The man was starting to sweat then he fell back off the cliff. "You'll never catch me!"  
  
Marik ran over to the edge only to see him fall into the sunroof of a jet plane and zoom off into the distance. "You must be joking!"  
  
"What happened Marik?" Malik asked from behind him.  
  
Marik turned around and sighed, "He got away."  
  
"Again?!"  
  
"Again." Marik started to walk off. "Call Kaiba."  
  
"Oh... he's gonna be mad."  
  
"I know."  
  
Malik took the walkie-talkie out of his pocket and pressed the button, "Kaiba?"  
  
"He got away."  
  
"Yeah...Where is he?"  
  
"I don't know. He hasn't gotten there yet. I'll call you when he gets to his destination."  
  
"Okay, thanks."  
  
Malik caught up with Marik, "Kaiba says he hasn't gotten to his destination. So, we have to wait till he calls back."  
  
"Wait?!" Marik leaned against the car. "Ugh, what are we supposed to do now?"  
  
Malik picked up Monkey and looked at the Mexican boats still going down the river. "We could watch this thing there doing."  
  
Marik looked up and walked over to the waters edge. "Yeah okay."  
  
After two hours of watching different colored boats pass by Marik fell onto the wet grass and sighed.  
  
He looked up at Malik watching the boats and setting Monkey on the ground next to him. Marik looked back at the sun and fell asleep.  
  
In a couple of minutes the walk-talkie in Malik's pocket was making noises again, "Kaiba?"  
  
"I know where he is."  
  
"Great!"  
  
"You're not going to think it's so great in a minute."  
  
"Why? Where is he?"  
  
"Paris, France."  
  
"You must be kidding?!"  
  
"Nope."  
  
"France? How are we supposed to get to France?"  
  
"I don't know. Ask Marik."  
  
Malik looked back at his yami, "Yeah. I hope we don't have to fly again."  
  
"Later."  
  
Malik put the walkie-talkie back into his pocket and crawled over to Marik. "Marik? Wake up okay."  
  
"..." Marik moved a little bit and opened his eyes. "Hey Malik."  
  
He sat up and rubbed his eye. "What's up?"  
  
"We have to go to France."  
  
"...You're kidding..."  
  
Malik stood up, "That's what I told Kaiba. But it's where we gotta go. So, how are we gonna get there?"  
  
Marik thought for a minute, "Well, we could take another plane."  
  
"And send another flight to their doom? No thanks."  
  
"Well, then we could..." he looked around. "SUBMARINE!!!"  
  
"Submarine?"  
  
"Yeah," Marik stood and pointed. "Look!"  
  
Malik turned his head and on the other side of the water was a dock with dozens of different submarines. "Wow!"  
  
Marik was already in the jeep, "Let's go, Malik."  
  
Malik grabbed Monkey and jumped in. They drove to the other side and got out when they saw the dock. Lots of people were surrounding the mini- subs and Marik groaned, "Aw! How are we supposed to steal one with all these people around?"  
  
Malik sighed, "Why do you always want to steal?"  
  
"Do you know how much one of these would cost? C'mon."  
  
Marik dragged Malik over to a man in a suit by one of the submarines. "Hello."  
  
"Hello, sir. Are you interested in one of these submarines?"  
  
"Well, maybe. Could we see this one from the inside?"  
  
"Certainly." He opened the hatch and let them in, "This is one of our newer models."  
  
Marik felt the steering wheel and pulled down the microscope down so he could see outside.  
  
"Cool..."  
  
The man smiled. "It even has turbo drive, it'll go 100 mph in water."  
  
Marik looked at Malik, "And how much did you say this was?"  
  
"A bargain price at $300,000."  
  
Malik sighed and said, "Go ahead."  
  
Marik mouthed the words 'Thank you.' 


	7. Chapter 7

Sweeten the taste  
  
Chapter 7:  
  
"We'll take it." Marik said looking at the man.  
  
"Great. I can ring you up out here," the man started to walk back but noticed Marik wasn't following. "Uh, sir?"  
  
Instead Marik was backing the submarine out of the dock and taking it under water.  
  
"Sir! You have to pay for that!" He ran to the end of the pier only to see Marik, Malik, and Monkey go off in a new sub.  
  
Malik sat down at the table in the middle of the room. "I don't know why we do these things..."  
  
"Because it's fun?"  
  
"That's a possibility."  
  
Marik put the system on autopilot then walked over and sat in the chair next to Malik. "Come here."  
  
Malik got up and sat in his yami's lap, "What?"  
  
"You have no idea how much I love you." He started to kiss Malik on the neck.  
  
Malik turned around and deeply kissed his koi. Marik pulled his hikari's leg over onto the other side of his lap and tugged on his waist. Malik broke their kiss and put his lips to Marik's ear, "Koibito, I love you so much."  
  
In about five hours or so (9:15 pm) Marik woke up on the floor next to Malik. He put his pants on and walked over to the microscope to see where they were. The sub was on turbo all night. The auto map said they were close to Bordeaux, France... in the Bay of Biscay.  
  
"Malik, wake up."  
  
His hikari sat up, "What is it?"  
  
"Were close to France. We should hit land in about 15 minutes."  
  
"Oh," Malik put his pants on and sat down, "Will we have to take land transportation to Paris?"  
  
"Yeah, we'll leave the sub on the shore somewhere."  
  
"You mean we took this only for one night?"  
  
"Yup."  
  
"Ugh."  
  
"Don't sound so upset koi." Marik walked over and gently bit his ear, "Sometimes one night can be very important."  
  
Malik smiled and started to pet Monkey.  
  
In about 10 minutes they came to the shore of France. Marik popped the hatch open and jumped out with Malik and Monkey following.  
  
Marik cracked his neck, "I never thought I'd be in France."  
  
"Yeah, I never thought I'd leave Japan."  
  
They headed towards the boardwalk. It was lit up with multi-colored lights and people were dancing with each other. "Marik, what kind of party is this?"  
  
"I don't know... but hey look! There's a parking lot over there."  
  
"Oh, that's right. We need a car."  
  
"We sure do."  
  
Marik and Malik went to the other side of the party and looked around. "What kind of car do you want, Malik?"  
  
"Anything in black."  
  
Marik walked up to a black infinity. "This good enough?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
Lucky for them the car window was down, so Marik just opened it from the inside. He got in (Malik and Monkey got in on the other side) and started moving wires and stuff.  
  
"Marik, are you hotwiring this car?"  
  
"Do you know any other way to get it moving?" Marik finally got the car started and pulled out of the parking lot.  
  
"Well, that was easy." Malik said easing back in his seat.  
  
Marik drove down the road, "Lucky for us, I know where Paris is."  
  
"You do?"  
  
"Yup. Last week when South Park went off I watched this Paris thing on the Discovery channel."  
  
"Oh."  
  
They went for about a half an hour silent until they got to this fork in the road. Marik stopped the car, "Uh... left or right?"  
  
"Couldn't we go one way and if it's wrong back up and go the other?"  
  
"No, that would take to long."  
  
"Well, then go right."  
  
"Why right?"  
  
"Because right is always right!"  
  
"Ugh." Marik went right anyway.  
  
After about two more hours they came to Paris. It was close to midnight and they thought Kaiba might be asleep so they decided to walk around for a little bit before calling him.  
  
"So, what do you want to do?"  
  
"Eat..."  
  
Marik looked at Malik, "Yeah, how long has it been since we ate something?"  
  
"I don't know... too long."  
  
"How does that stuff taste?"  
  
Malik forgot that he was still carrying monkey chow. "Uh, I don't know. Monkey likes it."  
  
"Well, of course he likes it! He's a monkey!"  
  
Malik sighed and took a little bit on his finger. He looked at it then licked a little bit. "YUCK!"  
  
He spat it out onto the ground, "That's disgusting!"  
  
Marik frowned, "I'm glad I didn't taste it."  
  
They kept walking until they saw another party thing. Marik and Malik went to the back door and looked into the window, "Malik, look. What kinda kid party is this?"  
  
"I don't know. Ha! They've got pin the tail on the donkey. What babies."  
  
"Oh, but look over there..."  
  
Malik looked at where his yami pointed and saw two huge food tables, "Oh my..."  
  
Marik and Malik's stomachs were growling so they opened the door gently and crawled inside. They went under the tables and sat underneath.  
  
"Marik," Malik whispered. "Were in someone else's house."  
  
"Yup." Marik reached his arm up on the tabletop and got a cupcake. "Go on, Malik. It's free food."  
  
Malik did the same but got a doughnut instead, he drooled and ate the whole thing in one bite. Then he started to choke.  
  
"Slow down Malik. You'll kill yourself doing that."  
  
In about fifteen minutes a weird sound came from Malik's pocket. It was the walkie-talkie; he picked it up and answered it. "Kaiba?"  
  
"That's my name."  
  
"How far away are we from him?"  
  
"You're in the same house as him."  
  
"WHAT?!"  
  
Marik grabbed his mouth, everyone in the room looked around then went back to doing whatever they were doing.  
  
"Shush. Be quiet." He let go of Malik's mouth.  
  
"That's right. The same house." Kaiba continued.  
  
"But how can that be?"  
  
"What's going on?" Marik asked.  
  
Malik turned to him, "The puzzle and the thief are in this house..."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Good luck." Kaiba hung up. 


	8. Chapter 8

Sweeten the taste  
  
Chapter 8:  
  
Malik and Marik looked around. "You see him Marik?"  
  
"No... you know what we have to do right?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Were going to have to get these kids out of here. So we can search the house without anyone getting in our way."  
  
"How do we do that?"  
  
Marik gave him a wicked smile. He got up from under the table and made a horrible face at the children, "Bugga-bugga!"  
  
"AAHHH!" All the kids scattered in different directions and eventually out the door.  
  
Malik crawled from under the table, "Marik..."  
  
"What? It got rid of them."  
  
"They are probably going to tell someone that there's a psycho in the house."  
  
"There is."  
  
Malik groaned, "Monkey and I will take the upstairs and you can take the downstairs." He walked up the staircase with Monkey on his shoulder.  
  
Marik was looking behind the T.V set when he heard a scream from the attic. "Malik?" he rushed upstairs.  
  
"Malik?! Where are you?"  
  
"Over here." He was in a bedroom.  
  
Marik went inside and saw him sitting on the floor with a mirror in hand. Marik walked over to him, "What's wrong?"  
  
"Look in the mirror." He held it up to his yami and Marik looked into it expecting to see himself.  
  
"Whoa!" It wasn't Marik looking back at him it was another man's face.  
  
"See? Scary, isn't it?"  
  
"Where'd you get that mirror?"  
  
"It was on the floor."  
  
"You know..." Marik looked into it again. "This face looks familiar... I can't put my finger on it though."  
  
"Uh...Marik."  
  
"Not now. I'm trying to figure this out."  
  
"Marik."  
  
"Just a minute, I almost got it."  
  
Malik scrabbled to his feet, "Marik! Behind you!"  
  
Marik looked over his shoulder and it was the thief. "Ahhh!"  
  
They both ran to the other side of the room, "Don't scare us like that!"  
  
The man ran out of the room and down stairs, Marik ran after him.  
  
Malik sighed and started running as well. He got to the bottom of the stairwell where his yami and the man were wrestling. Marik had the puzzle in his hand but the thief wouldn't get off of him, so there wasn't much he could do.  
  
Malik took his millennium puzzle out and tried to aim it at the thief. But Marik and him were changing positions so he didn't want to chance sending his koi to the shadow realm. "Uh..." he jumped in between them and knocked the guy hard on his head with his rod.  
  
"Ugh!" he backed off a little.  
  
That gave Marik a chance to run out the door with Malik close behind. They went into the car and Marik was about to get it started when Malik remembered something, "Marik! Monkey is still in there!"  
  
"Aw, you gotta be kidding me!"  
  
Malik jumped out and ran back into the house, he saw the man coming towards him but on his shoulder was Monkey. "Monkey! Get over here!"  
  
He did no such thing. The thief got his strength back and grabbed Malik's leg. "Give me the puzzle!"  
  
"Get away!" He kicked him off and jumped into the car window as Marik exited the driveway.  
  
"Where's your pet?"  
  
"I couldn't get him..." Malik sighed and looked out the window.  
  
"Aw, c'mon. We can get you a new one."  
  
"I don't want a new Monkey. He was special."  
  
"Oh please."  
  
"Well, how would you like it if I lost you and someone offered to get me a new boyfriend?"  
  
"I wouldn't, but then again... you could never loose me."  
  
Malik smiled a little then looked into the rearview mirror, he saw the same man attached to the trunk of their car trying to climb on the roof.  
  
"Marik!"  
  
Marik looked behind him and grinned. "This is a perfect time to test all the stuff I saw on that movie."  
  
Marik swerved to the left and then to the right. He was trying to make the guy fall off. Then he put the car in reverse and backed into a tree.  
  
"Marik! You'll kill him!"  
  
"So? What's your point?"  
  
"I...I don't know." Malik buckled his seatbelt. 'After a year of being with him I should know that I don't have a point anymore.'  
  
Marik thought he was off and so he started to drive normally again. Little did he know that the thief was on the roof of the car, trying get in though the sunroof. He worked his fingers quietly and finally got it open. With one swift motion he slid it open and stuck his head in.  
  
"Ahh!" Malik screamed and shut his eyes.  
  
Marik pushed a button on the steering wheel that was to close the sunroof and it did just that. The top pushed very hard on his shoulders and chest. "...hey!"  
  
Malik watched him with delight, "Hey, cool! I didn't know someone's face could turn that color."  
  
Marik smiled and kept driving. The man however had gotten his hands in between himself and the top and pushed it far enough so he could get out. He took a couple of deep breaths then used his head to smash the window on Marik's side.  
  
Marik was starting to get annoyed with the thief's persistence and lost his temper. He took the millennium puzzle and threw the chain around the man's neck, he pulled very hard then punched him out of the window. He fell back, skidded on the road and into the woods on the side of the road.  
  
"Wow!" Malik watched him bounce into the forest, "Marik, that was incredible! Where did you learn to do that?!"  
  
"From a movie I saw not to long ago."  
  
"Cool."  
  
Marik made Malik hold the millennium puzzle while he kept driving. Malik looked at it and sighed. "Marik?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Well, are we really going to give this back to Yugi?"  
  
"..."  
  
"I mean, we've worked so hard for it. And now that it's in our hands, there's nothing Yugi or the pharaoh can do. Are we really going to let go back into the hands of someone we hate?" 


	9. Chapter 9

Sweeten the taste  
  
Chapter 9:  
  
Marik sighed heavily and looked out the window, "Malik, I know it seems hard but... we have to give the puzzle back to Yugi."  
  
"But Marik!"  
  
Marik stopped the car and looked at his hikari. "Malik, I know you think it's stupid and it probably is. But we have to give it back."  
  
"Were the one's who got it back!"  
  
"That's right, we did. Just like we promised Yugi we would."  
  
Malik looked away and mumbled something. Marik took Malik in his arms and kissed his him gently, "I'm sorry, Malik."  
  
He frowned, "Not half as sorry as I am." Then he smiled and put the millennium puzzle around his neck.  
  
"What are you doing?"  
  
"If were going to return it, I at least want to know how it feels."  
  
Marik kissed him one more time. "It looks good on you."  
  
They wanted to drive until they got to Germany, then they would call Kaiba to tell him about their triumph. About twenty miles down the road they heard a noise from behind them, Malik took a look and it was a blue pickup truck... with the thief sitting in the drivers seat.  
  
"Oh Marik, it's him again!"  
  
"What?!" Marik stepped on the gas and zoomed down the highway.  
  
Malik wanted to get a good look at the thief so he went into the backseat and put his face right up into the glass. "Hmm." He squinted, "That's Bandit Keith!"  
  
He crawled back into the front, "Marik that's Bandit Keith! I swear, that's him!"  
  
"What?"  
  
"It true!"  
  
Just then Keith rammed his truck into the back of their car, it caused them to almost fly off the ground and into the woods.  
  
Marik was swerving right and left to try not to run into a tree, "Ra! He won't quit!"  
  
Malik's eyes were closed and he was chanting something to quiet to be heard over Bandit Keith's yelling, "Give me that puzzle back!"  
  
Marik didn't see the little stream coming up ahead and he ran right into it. Of course since Bandit Keith was behind him he rammed his truck into their car and he got stuck as well.  
  
"Ugh." Marik groaned and pulled his hikari out of the car.  
  
Malik was trying to keep up with Marik while they ran into the woods. "Where are we going?"  
  
"Call Kaiba!"  
  
Malik pushed the button and Kaiba answered, "Hello?"  
  
"Yeah, um... we've got the puzzle but just barely. See, he's chasing us now. It's Bandit Keith!"  
  
"Bandit Keith? Well, I'm sending one of Kaiba Corp's jet planes to pick you up. So try and stay in the related area, I don't know how long it'll take to get to Paris."  
  
"Right." Then he hung up. "Marik?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"He's sending a jet plane for us but we have to stay in this related area."  
  
Marik stopped behind a tree and pulled Malik close to him so Bandit Keith wouldn't see him. Keith was right behind them only he didn't know it, because Marik held his hand over Malik's mouth so Keith wouldn't hear him breath.  
  
Bandit Keith thought they had gone somewhere else so he went away. After a minute or so, Marik let go of Malik.  
  
"Ugh..." Malik sighed, "I hate having to hide from him. Why can't we go over there and kick his butt?!"  
  
"I know you want to, and so do I. But what if we go too far?"  
  
"And kill him? Like we did about 300 other people on that plane?"  
  
"Oh yeah." Marik leaned back on the tree, "But we don't want to add to that record, do we?"  
  
"Is that a rhetorical question?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
Malik didn't say anything until he remembered that they still didn't have everything they were supposed to, "Oh no!"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Bandit Keith still has Monkey!"  
  
"..."  
  
"We gotta get him back!"  
  
"No way."  
  
"But Keith might do awful things to him!"  
  
"Like what?"  
  
"Like... he might molest him!"  
  
"A monkey molester."  
  
"That's right!"  
  
Marik starred at him, "..." then he burst into laughter. "HAHAHAHA!"  
  
Malik got red in the face and lost his temper, "What's so funny?!"  
  
"Malik," Marik got enough control to stop for a minute, "We can't risk getting the puzzle taken away from us for a molested monkey."  
  
"Well, how would like it if someone molested you?!"  
  
"If it was you koi, I think I'd like it a lot." Then Marik rolled on the ground laughing.  
  
"Ugh!"  
  
Marik stopped for a second, "What are you so upset about? It's just a monkey."  
  
"Yeah, to you."  
  
"Oh please. You would have never even thought about a monkey if I hadn't left you for a second to get a car."  
  
"You stole it..."  
  
"Oh here we go!" Marik turned around and closed his eyes and started to laugh again.  
  
Malik got really upset and walked off in the direction he saw Bandit Keith last. 'Fine! If he doesn't wanna help he can just stay there and laugh himself to death!'  
  
He looked down and saw a bunch of rather large boot prints. 'This must be where he went.' He followed them to where he saw Keith sitting on a log. 'It's him.'  
  
Keith was talking to himself, "Man! How am I supposed to get my money now?!"  
  
"Eek." Monkey was still on his shoulder.  
  
"Oh yeah, you're that guys monkey. Why don't you get out of here? I wanna be alone."  
  
Malik got on his knees and made tiny whistling noises. Monkey noticed, but instead of just running over to him he jumped up and down, "EEK! EEK! EEK!"  
  
Malik shook his head for Monkey to stop but he didn't. Bandit Keith wondered why he was making such noise. "What is it?" He looked behind a tree and saw Malik.  
  
"Hey! You're that punk that stole my puzzle!" before Malik could run away he grabbed him by the shirt and pinned him down.  
  
"Get off of me!"  
  
"Not a chance!" He took the millennium puzzle from around his neck and put it back on his.  
  
Malik growled under his breath and tried to free his arms, but Keith was much heavier than him and he couldn't move. "Ugh..."  
  
"Hey..." Keith studied his face a little closer, "You're a real pretty boy, ya know that?"  
  
"Whatever..." Malik tried again to get up but was forced back down.  
  
Keith ran his fingers down Malik's cheek, "Really pretty." He leaned down to where their faces were only an inch away from each other.  
  
"Ugh! Get away! Marik!"  
  
"Sorry. Your little boyfriend ain't hear..." he kissed Malik's collarbone.  
  
"Stop! Marik, please help me..." 


	10. Chapter 10

Sweeten the taste  
  
Chapter 10:  
  
Marik was still sitting at the tree. He had stopped laughing right after Malik left, now he felt kinda bad about laughing at him.  
  
'Maybe I should go apologize.' He got up and walked the way he saw Malik going. "Malik?"  
  
Soon he saw the same boot prints as his koi did about fifteen minutes ago, only this time Malik's footprints were right next to them.  
  
'Oh no, did he go after Bandit Keith?!'  
  
Marik followed the footprints till he got to Monkey. "Hey, you're Malik's monkey. What are you doing here?"  
  
Monkey didn't say anything, his eyes were averted to something else. Marik looked up to see what was so entertaining. When he did he saw Malik fighting to get from underneath Bandit Keith. By this time Malik's shirt was off and cast aside over a log. Keith was kissing Malik's chest while Malik was screaming flailing.  
  
"Malik!" Marik got out his millennium rod and jumped onto Bandit Keith.  
  
The force sent them both rolling down the hill, giving Malik a chance to get up and catch his breath. "Was... was that Marik?"  
  
Meanwhile, Marik and Keith had reached the bottom off the hill. As you can imagine, Marik was very upset. Well, more than upset actually...  
  
Keith was trying to get away from him by crawling behind a tree. Why was he crawling? Because during to roll down the hill, Marik kicked him in the nuts very hard. And thus, he can't walk right now. But anyway, Marik pulled on his leg and bonked him on his temple, which made him bleed. Keith tried to kick Marik in the head but he dodged it and bent his arm behind his back.  
  
"Ah! Stop, I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Keith yelped.  
  
Marik grabbed him by his shirt and held him very close to his own face, "You picked the wrong hikari to mess with." He finished by punching him in the gut and dropping him on the floor.  
  
Keith was moaning on the ground. Marik was getting ready to drop him into the river but just then Malik came stumbling down the hill.  
  
"Marik! I'm so sorry I didn't listen to you. That monkey laughed at me when it was happening and..."  
  
Marik grabbed him and kissed him very hard on the lips and then started on his neck, "Malik, I'm so sorry I let this happen to you..."  
  
Malik put his head on Marik's shoulder, "It's not your fault."  
  
"Yes it is. If I had never laughed at you, you would have never went looking for Monkey by yourself."  
  
"But when I went Monkey made me get caught, there was nothing you could do."  
  
"If I went with you even if Monkey did get you caught I would've have been there make sure nothing happened to you."  
  
"..." Malik snuggled up to his ear, "I'm just glad you were there."  
  
Malik looked down at Keith and took the millennium puzzle from around his neck. "I'll take this."  
  
Just then, an extremely loud sound came overhead. They looked up and it was a plane, slightly smaller than the one they stole in Hawaii. But it was landing right next to them. When it got down to eye level Malik noticed the Kaiba Corp logo on the side. 'It's about time.'  
  
The door opened and Yugi came bounding out of it with Yami and Kaiba behind. Malik held out the puzzle and Yugi grabbed it while pulling Marik and Malik into a close hug.  
  
"Oh thank you guys!" Yugi put the puzzle around his neck and gave a beaming smile.  
  
Marik grinned and Malik gave a tired smile. Kaiba came over and folded his arms, "Ah, so you two finally got it. I never thought that would happen."  
  
Malik stuck his tongue out.  
  
"Stick that back in or you'll catch a fly."  
  
Malik smiled, "Well, I told you Yugi."  
  
"I guess I should have trusted you more..." Yugi said not really meaning it.  
  
Yami yawned, "Let's go. Oh, and guess we need to take him." He pointed to the guy on the floor.  
  
Keith was almost passed out. "Oh..."  
  
Kaiba motioned for two muscular guys to get him and bring him into the jet. "Okay, we need to go now."  
  
------------------------------------------------  
  
Soon they were back in Domino. And Keith was in custody of the Domino City Jail. But all was not back to normal; Marik and Malik had received a summons to court. They were on a lot of charges from their little trip for Yugi's puzzle.  
  
It was Monday when there court date was and they were waiting for the judge to enter.  
  
Kaiba had let them use his lawyer since they didn't have one. Marik and Malik were in business suits and sitting patiently along with the rest of the courthouse.  
  
Malik yawned and Marik glared at him. In a couple of minutes the judge walked to his seat. The guard spoke, "All rise for the honorable judge Jackson."  
  
Everyone got up, then the judge sat down. "You may sit."  
  
"Now," Judge Jackson sighed. "I looked at the file for this one earlier and I must admit... this must be the strangest case I've ever handled."  
  
Marik and Malik shrugged at each other.  
  
"Here are the charges. I'll start in order of countries..." He paused. "In Hawaii, you are charged with stealing a room key and hijacking a plane, by the way the victims are safe. In Mexico, you are charged with stealing a jeep, a submarine, and a monkey. Last, in France... you stole a car and broke into a house."  
  
Marik groaned and sank into his chair. While Malik put his head on the desk, "Were going to jail. And I'll be in danger every night..."  
  
"Now, how do you plead?"  
  
"Guilty." They muttered.  
  
"Well then, before I give you your sentence... I have only one question."  
  
"Yes?" Malik asked.  
  
"Why did you do all this?"  
  
Marik sighed, "Most of it was for transportation. To get our friends' item back from Bandit Keith."  
  
"Yeah," Malik added. "We promised him we'd get it back. Unfortunately, the darn thief kept moving all around the world. So we had to follow..."  
  
"What about the monkey?"  
  
"Oh..." Malik stuttered. "Uh, I didn't think he had a home... so we took him along for the ride."  
  
Marik looked at him, "We?"  
  
"Well," Judge Jackson cracked his neck. "I still think it's weird. Oh well, Marik and Malik Ishtar. I sentence you both to..."  
  
"Wait!" Kaiba stood up out of the audience.  
  
"Yes?" the judge sighed.  
  
"I'm willing to pay for all of their charges, Judge Jackson."  
  
Marik and Malik looked back at him stunned.  
  
The judge was confused as well, "Can... can you afford all of that?"  
  
"Sir, I am Seto Kaiba. The CEO and president of Kaiba Corporation." He smiled. "I think I can handle it."  
  
"Well then, if you don't mind. I have no problem with it. The Price is Right comes on in ten minutes so... I legally give all of Marik and Malik Ishtar's court bills to Seto Kaiba. Court adjourned." The judge then walked off the bench and out of sight.  
  
Marik and Malik jumped up and down, "Yes! Yes! Yes!"  
  
They ran out of the building to catch up with Kaiba, "Oh Kaiba, Thank you!" Malik said.  
  
"Yeah, you really saved us!" Marik agreed.  
  
"Well, I figured after that trip you two dissevered a break."  
  
Yugi and Yami walked out of the courthouse, "So glad you guys were let off the hook." Yugi smiled.  
  
"I supposed you earned it." Yami said.  
  
Malik grinned, "Of course we did. Just don't go losing that puzzle anymore..."  
  
"Yeah," Marik added, "Because you never know who's gonna take it." He swiftly grabbed the puzzle from the Yugi and raced off.  
  
Malik followed him and laughed, "See ya, Yugi!"  
  
"Hey give it back!" Yugi chased them.  
  
Kaiba sighed, "Here we go again..."

THE END...


End file.
